Friday, January 28, 2005

"In fact, as I will elaborate below, we vehemently suspect that the world is a multilayered, multicoloured, cosmic superconductor." Frank Wilczek (Nobel Prize, 2004)

My macro-quantum theory for the emergence of Einstein's gravity with dark energy is a form of what Wilczek below calls "cosmic superconductivity" not only for electro-weak SU(2) but also for electromagnetic U(1) where real electron pairs of total charge 2e are replaced by virtual electron-positron pairs of total charge 0.

Note also:

Antigravity has feet of clay
26 January 2005
Nature on NASA BPP (more on that another day)

Dark haloes pepper the Universe
26 January 2005

This one also important. It agrees with my theory that the dark halos are exotic vacuum regions /\zpf =/= 0 with positive quantum pressure (w = -1 that at a distance mimics w = 0 CDM).

"Powerful symmetry principles have guided physicists in their quest for nature's fundamental laws. The successful gauge theory of electroweak interactions postulates a more extensive symmetry for its equations than are manifest in the world. The discrepancy is ascribed to a pervasive symmetry-breaking field, which fills all space uniformly, rendering the Universe a sort of exotic superconductor. So far, the evidence for these bold ideas is indirect. But soon the theory will undergo a critical test depending on whether the quanta of this symmetry-breaking field, the so-called Higgs particles, are produced at the Large Hadron Collider (due to begin operation in 2007)."

Note my macro-quantum vacuum theory is a limiting case of what Wilczek is saying.

"It has been almost four decades since our current, wonderfully successful theory of the electroweak interaction was formulated1, 2, 3, 4. Central to that theory is the concept of spontaneously broken gauge symmetry 5, 6. According to this concept, the fundamental equations of physics have more symmetry than the actual physical world does. Although its specific use in electroweak theory involves exotic hypothetical substances and some sophisticated mathematics, the underlying theme of broken symmetry is quite old."

In my theory this exotic substance, at least in the large-scale is mostly virtual electron-positron condensate.

"It goes back at least to the dawn of modern physics, when Newton postulated that the basic laws of mechanics exhibit full symmetry in three dimensions of space — despite the fact that everyday experience clearly distinguishes 'up and down' from 'sideways' directions in our local environment. Newton, of course, traced this asymmetry to the influence of Earth's gravity. In the framework of electroweak theory, modern physicists similarly postulate that the physical world is described by a solution wherein all space, throughout the currently observed Universe, is permeated by one or more (quantum) fields that spoil the full symmetry of the primary equations. Thus, modern physicists hypothesize that what we perceive as empty space is actually a highly structured medium. In fact, as I will elaborate below, we vehemently suspect that the world is a multilayered, multicoloured, cosmic superconductor.

Fortunately this hypothesis, which might at first hearing sound quite extravagant, has testable implications. The symmetry-breaking fields, when suitably excited, must bring forth characteristic particles: their quanta. Using the most economical implementation of the required symmetry breaking, one predicts the existence of a remarkable new particle, the so-called Higgs particle. More ambitious speculations suggest that there should be not just a single Higgs particle, but rather a complex of related particles. The very popular and attractive idea of low-energy supersymmetry 7, 8, to be discussed further below, requires at least five 'Higgs particles'.

The primary goal of fundamental physics is to discover profound concepts that illuminate our understanding of nature. Discovering new particles, as such, is secondary. In recent times, however, physicists have often found that their most profound concepts, when implemented with rigorous logic, are reflected in the existence of new particles. This happens because both quantum mechanics and special relativity are important in the regime of short distances and high energies, where high-energy physics explores fundamental laws."

I am going further than Frank here suggesting that Einstein's general relativity GR in the form of the exotic vacuum field equation

Guv + /\zpfguv = 0

where the dark energy (matter) energy density is

(c^4/8piG)/\zpf = (String Tension)(DeSitter Curvature)

plays a major role on the small-scale where the constant large-scale DeSitter Curvature generalizes to a local scalar field.

{Sab} is Lie algebra of Lorentz group O(1,3), which when locally gauged gives Gennady Shipov's torsion field theory that Akimov in Moscow says has practical WMD potential.

"It is difficult to combine quantum mechanics and special relativity in a consistent way. The only way we know how to do it is by using quantum field theory, and the basic objects of quantum field theory are space-filling entities (quantum fields) whose excitations are what we perceive, concretely, as particles 9, 10. So, when our concepts are made consistent with quantum mechanics and relativity, they tend to be
reflected rather directly in predictions about particles.

The W and Z bosons, carriers of the weak nuclear force, and gluons, carriers of the strong nuclear force, are outstanding examples of ideas embodied as particles. These so-called gauge particles are physical embodiments of the symmetry of physical law (gauge invariance) 11, 12, 13 — not merely metaphorically but in a very precise sense. Indeed, as a fact of history, the existence of these particles and their detailed behaviour was predicted before their experimental observation, starting from the concept of gauge symmetry."

These forces are mediated by virtual quanta off-mass-shell, which means that they can have any energy E and any momentum p not constrained by E = Mc^2 in the form

E^2 = (pc)^2 + (mc^2)^2

m =/= M

m = rest mass

M = total mass

GR strong equivalence principle is

M(inertial) = M(gravitational)

"Harmony between mind and matter, in the form of mathematical abstractions conjuring up sensuous reality, has long figured in the dreams of mystics and the inspiration of visionaries — the 'music of the spheres'. Here it is realized in a form that is genuine, reproducible and precise.

Now we are faced with the opportunity for another synthesis. Ironically, the concept whose embodiment we now seek is a special, structured sort of symmetry breaking."

P.W. Anderson calls this "More is different" for the vacuum of virtual quanta and the ground states of real quanta. This is a general theory for the emergence of all complex systems.

"This concept is a necessary complement to what has come before; for our symmetry-based understanding of the W and Z bosons — that is, of the electroweak interaction — relies on postulating symmetries that are broken in a very specific way. They are supposed to be spoiled by a form of cosmic superconductivity, with newly hypothesized fields having the role performed by electrons in ordinary superconductors. It is these new quantum fields that are the progenitors of Higgs particles.

So far, no Higgs particle has been observed. As yet, this failure does not represent a crisis. Detection of Higgs particles that are sufficiently heavy — specifically, those whose mass exceeds 114 GeV, which is the current lower bound 14 — will have to await more powerful accelerators than are now available. But theory tells us that this evasion cannot be maintained indefinitely. If the Higgs particle, or an appropriate complex of Higgs particles, does not turn up at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a major revision of our thinking will be required. The LHC is now under construction at CERN (European Centre for Particle Physics) near Geneva. It is due to begin operation in late 2007.

There are already indirect but significant indications that at least one Higgs particle with a mass below 250 GeV does exist 15. If there is such a particle, it will certainly be observed at the LHC. That observation, if and when it occurs, will bring a glorious chapter in physics to a glorious conclusion. It will also provide a key to unlock new volumes that are currently sealed; for the circle of ideas around symmetry breaking and the Higgs particle includes, quite close to its elegant central core, some of the darkest and most forbidding zones of ignorance in the existing landscape of fundamental physics. That is exciting because it means we will have an opportunity to learn. Big ideas and speculations about the unification of forces, and the cosmology of the early Universe, as well as supersymmetry, are very much in play. Thus the Higgs sector is not only a destination, but also a portal.

There is a vast technical literature on most of the topics discussed here 16, 17 and quite a few popular and semipopular presentations. My goal here is to present a brief but substantial and critical review of the main concepts and prospects that is accessible to scientifically sophisticated non-experts, yet reflects the essence of present-day thinking."